We change your site’s PHP version or enable a specific extension at the server level through your control panel — and on shared hosting, this is genuinely capped by what your specific plan allows, since some hosts restrict PHP version choice or extension availability to higher-tier plans, and no configuration on our end changes that ceiling.
Check what your host’s control panel actually offers before assuming a limitation
Look directly in your control panel’s PHP settings section for the list of available versions and extensions. If what you need genuinely isn’t listed as an option at all, that’s a plan-level restriction from your host, not something a configuration change on our end can work around.
PHP version & extension changes at server level
PHP version or extensions changed at the server level — capped by your plan, not by us.
- Full backup taken before we start
- If we can’t fix it, you get your money back
- We never ask for your own password
What we need from you
- Access to your hosting control panel’s PHP settings
- The specific PHP version or extension you need enabled
- Confirmation of what depends on this change, so we can verify it after
This or something else?
| You need your site’s PHP version changed, or a specific extension enabled, at the server level | This fix covers it |
| You want PHP resource limits (memory, execution time) adjusted instead of the version or extensions | PHP resource limits (memory, execution, upload) tuning |
| Your site is broken specifically because of a PHP version incompatibility | PHP version compatibility fix, in the Configuration & Environment category, the diagnostic version |
| Your host’s plan doesn’t offer the PHP version or extension you need at all | We’ll confirm this plainly and document it — that’s a plan limitation, not something we can configure around |
What we do
- Confirm the desired PHP version or extension and check its availability in your control panel
- Make the change through your control panel where it’s available
- Verify the site functions correctly under the new PHP configuration
- Check for any compatibility issues the version or extension change might introduce
- Document what was changed, and clearly note if anything requested wasn’t available on your current plan
- Recommend next steps if a plan upgrade would be needed to access what you actually want
What is included
- PHP version or extension changes made wherever your control panel allows it
- Verified site function under the new configuration
- A check for compatibility issues introduced by the change
- Clear documentation of what was and wasn’t possible on your current plan
Not included
- Access to a PHP version or extension your specific hosting plan doesn’t offer at all — that’s a plan-level limitation, not something we can override, though we’ll document it clearly and can help you understand what upgrading would involve
- Fixing compatibility issues in your theme or plugins caused by a version change — a separate, related fix if needed
- Upgrading your hosting plan itself, which is your decision with your host directly
- Ongoing management as your PHP requirements change
Questions about this fix
What if my host simply doesn't offer the PHP version I need?
That's a genuine plan-level limitation on some hosts, and no amount of configuration on our end can create an option that isn't actually available — we'd confirm this directly in your control panel and document it plainly rather than promising something we can't deliver.
Will changing my PHP version break anything on my site?
It can, if your theme or plugins aren't compatible with the new version — we test after the change and would flag any resulting issue, though fixing compatibility problems found is a separate, related fix.
Can you get my host to offer a feature they don't currently provide?
No, that's not something we can influence — if your plan doesn't include a feature, that's between you and your hosting provider, and upgrading or switching hosts would be the path to accessing it.
How do I know if a specific plugin actually needs a certain PHP extension?
The plugin's own documentation or support usually specifies its requirements — we can help identify what's needed once we know what's failing, and confirm whether your control panel can enable it.
Is it risky to change PHP version on a live site?
There's some inherent risk if compatibility issues exist, which is why we verify function immediately after the change and would recommend testing on staging first for a site where an issue would be especially disruptive.
Related fixes
If this is the second time this year
A bad update breaking the site is a symptom of updates not being tested first. Care plans run every update on a staging clone before it reaches your live site, which is the actual fix for this happening again.
Your access, your rules
Create a separate admin account for us and delete it when we are done. For anything else, we get in touch and agree a method — never a form field on this site, never by reply to an email.
We back up first, always
Before anything is touched we take a full backup and keep it for 30 days. If a fix goes wrong, we put the site back exactly as it was.
If it is not what you bought
If the problem turns out smaller than what you ordered, we refund the difference. If it is bigger, we stop and send a quote before doing any extra work.
If we cannot fix it
You get back what we received. Diagnosis is on us — you only pay when the problem is actually solved. The payment processor takes its fee before the money reaches us, so we never hold it and it is not ours to return. That is true here as everywhere else.
If it comes back
Reply within seven days of delivery and we put it back on the bench at no cost. The fix is not finished until it holds.
What we are responsible for
If something goes wrong with a fix, our responsibility is limited to what you paid for it. We take a full backup first so mistakes can be undone, and we tell you before doing anything outside what you bought.